Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease Treatment Lewiston ME

Local resource for autoimmune inner ear disease treatment in Lewiston, ME. Includes detailed information on local businesses that provide access to autoimmune inner ear disease treatment, tinnitus treatment, hearing loss treatment, and hearing aids, as well as advice and content on hearing loss, conditions of the ear, and hearing problems.

Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)

Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)

Question: There seems to be a lot of talk about autoimmune inner ear disease now. What exactly is this? How do I know if this caused my hearing loss? What can I do about it?—P. R.

Answer: Good questions! Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED) is one of those mystery conditions that bedevil and baffle so many doctors. Even today, not much is definitely understood about AIED. It is still the subject of much controversy and debate. The good news is that researchers are busy learning more about AIED so they can find effective ways of preventing and/or treating it.

What is AIED?

God designed your extremely complex immune system to ward off infections. Normally your immune system fights invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cells from other organisms. However, sometimes something goes wrong and the antibodies and immune cells in your immune system fail to distinguish the "bad guys" from the "good guys." As a result, your immune system attacks various cells in your body. This results in one of the more than 80 identified autoimmune diseases. If this attack takes place in your inner ears, you end up with AIED.

AIED consists of a syndrome that may include sudden or progressive hearing loss in both ears, tinnitus, dizziness and a feeling of fullness in your ears.

Characteristics of AIED

Here are some things we now know about AIED.

1. The hearing loss is sensorineural (the old term was "nerve deafness") and normally occurs in both ears (79%) at the same time. The actual hearing loss often is somewhat different in each ear however (asymmetric).

2. When AIED only occurs in one ear, generally it will show up in your other ear at a later date.

3. When AIED occurs, your hearing loss progresses rapidly and gets steadily worse over a period of weeks or months and even up to a year or more. In contrast, Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) occurs over a matter of minutes to hours to days.

4. While you are losing your hearing, your hearing may fluctuate (so you may have "good days" and "bad days"), then stabilize at a certain level, or it may continue to get worse without any fluctuation.

5. AIED generally impairs your ability to understand speech. This may even be a bigger problem than the resulting hearing loss. If you have AIED, your speech discrimination test scores will often be poor.

6. About 50% of the people with AIED have balance (vestibular) problems. These symptoms can include vertigo (a spinning sensation), dizziness, imbalance (disequilibrium), ataxia (staggering gait) and motion intolerance.

7. Between 25% and 50% of the people with AIED have tinnitus (ringing, roaring, hissing...

I am writing to you because I have discovered a way to reverse the symptoms of progressive Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED). After many tests I was diagnosed with bilateral AIED. The tests showed I had the classic heat shock protein in my blood. No treatments worked. Eventually, with the assistance of my oto-neurologist, I underwent plasmapheresis at a local hospital. [Ed. note: plasmapheresis is a procedure, similar to dialysis, that removes antibodies from the bloodstream, thereby preventing them from attacking their targetsâ€”in this lady's case, the inner ear.] I experienced significant temporary improvement but limited long term improvement.

By June of 2006, both ears were involved. Tests showed that, in order for my right ear to hear, the sound needed to be at 66 decibels. My ability to distinguish words was at 8%. My left ear was following suit. We’d began discussing the probability of my needing cochlear implants.

Because I had noticed a marked reduction of the “fullness” aspect of the disease after plasmapheresis, I decided to try lymphatic drainage. [Ed. note: lymphatic drainage is a special type of massage therapy used to stimulate lymph flow in the body and to clear/reduce blockages in the lymphatic system.] I underwent the drainage procedure on a weekly basis. Initially I was very sick after each treatment as my liver tried to process toxins. Each week, however, I experienced improvement in my symptoms.

(Incidentally, prior to the plasmapheresis, I had plantar fasciitis in both feet that wouldn’t get better. One reason I decided to explore the lymphatic drainage approach is that the plantar fasciitis was immediately cured by the plasmapheresis. My problems seemed to stem from undiagnosed/treated Lyme disease in 1992. So, I have systemic autoimmune problems affecting my joints, thyroid, digestive tract and I’ve been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome which is autoimmune and affects eyes, mouth etc. The lymphatic drainage therapy positively affected all of these to a lesser degree.)

After one year, I returned for a hearing test. My left ear was completely normal. I could hear in my right ear at 25 decibels and could distinguish words at 98%. I continue to have mild tinnitus in the right ear.

At two years, I have maintained the improvement. The downside is that I find I must continue the lymphatic drainage therapy to maintain the improvementâ€”although on a greatly reduced schedule. And, insurance won’t pay for it.

My understanding of why lymphatic drainage works is that autoimmune diseases causes swelling...

Answers to Your Questions about Hearing Loss Issues

Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED) is a baffling condition to treat. Sometimes it occurs as the result of untreated allergies. One man explained,

After undergoing steroids and all sorts of medical treatment with no results, I finally heard about allergies being a cause of AIED. After being tested, I found I have terrible environmental and food allergies. Allergy shots have really helped and I am improving now. I also found that in my case, MSG (monosodium glutamate) and various food additives cause attacks of hearing loss and tinnitus. These substances can cause immune system dysfunction. The more you stay away from such things, the better you feel. Your body doesn’t turn on itself for no good reason–it has a little help! Please pass this information along to other people who suffer this horrible agony.

If you have been diagnosed with AIED, make such you see a good allergist and have yourself checked out for allergies that might be the underlying cause. If so, treating your allergies may bring your AIED under control without any other treatment needed.

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